Michael Steele on Trump ‘Black friends’ remark: ‘More BS’

Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele is dismissing former President Trump’s statements that he is not racist because he has “so many Black friends.”

Speaking Sunday on MSNBC, Steele said someone can be racist and still have Black friends, though it “says something about the relationship.”

“I think we should take this as it is, and it is more BS from the man who argued for and will argue to this day for the execution of five innocent young Black men,” said Steele, referring to the full-page ads Trump took out in 1989 against the Central Park Five.

Steele referenced Trump’s disparaging remarks about “s‑‑‑hole countries” in Africa, and the former president’s comments that there were “very fine people on both sides” at the 2016 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

“Spare me the ‘Donald Trump has Black friends’ BS,” Steele said. “It’s Sunday morning, and I don’t want to have to go to church twice.”

In an interview with Semafor last week, Trump pushed back on allegations that he is racist. 

“I have so many Black friends, that if I were a racist, they wouldn’t be friends; they would know better than anybody, and fast,” Trump said. “They would not be with me for two minutes if they thought I was racist — and I’m not racist!”

Trump, who is campaigning against President Biden, has been hoping to build Black voter support, particularly among Black male voters.